Students often struggle with writing essays. Some have difficulty with structure. Others dread dealing with APA formatting. I teach everything from bachelor-level to doctoral-level courses. The following contains some helpful writing tips that I have found may make writing essays a little easier.

Citations and References:

Many of the courses I teach require that students master the use of citations and references. I have found that students often become confused about how to include these. One common mistake that students make is to include a reference page without including any citations. That is not correct. The problem with that is there is no way to determine what part, if any, of the paper was paraphrased or cited from that source. Students sometimes think that listing a reference is a way to show that they used that information for the paper. However, there is more that must be done than simply including the source on the reference page. There must also be citations. Citations may be paraphrased or directly quoted. If there is a reference, there must be at least one corresponding citation.

Students may also want to include directly quoted material. I teach some courses where I allow this and other courses where I only allow paraphrased citations.

If directly quoted citations are allowed, they look something like this: “Citations may be paraphrased or directly quoted” (Hamilton, 2014, p. 1).

I prefer that my students paraphrase their citations. This may help demonstrate that they understand the content. However, it is important that if any information is paraphrased or quoted directly from a source, the author and year information must be included (list n.d. if no date is listed). There may be specific guidelines listed in the APA manual for listing page numbers and other identifying information. Students should be aware of the following:

Do not list citations without references.

Do not list references without citations.

Do not list the author and year information at the end of the paragraph and assume it covers the entire paragraph of content. Author and year information must be included for any paraphrased sentence or directly quoted block of content.

Citations and references must be in APA format (for most courses). Do not include footnotes if APA is required.

It may be a challenge for students to get into the habit of citing correctly. There are some sources like Perrla that may help.

Use of Appropriate Sources:

Another common citing mistake is to use less-than-scholarly sources. Although I enjoy writing blogs and doing research, I do not recommend that students use this or any other similar site as a source in their research papers. Blogs may sometimes contain news-worthy information. However, usually they contain opinion and other information that has not been peer-reviewed.

There are many sites that students use that are not considered appropriate sources for research. Blogs are just one of them. The following list contains some sources that students should not use:

Blogs – Blogs are meant for things other than research. They may be helpful in giving insight into how to do things. They may be fun to read in terms of content. However, students need to realize that some blogs may not contain accurate information.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia is a common student favorite. It contains some very good information. However, the content is written on a wiki. A wiki allows more than one person to add or change information. Any wiki should not be used as a source for citing. Wikipedia may have some very good sources listed at the bottom of the page. If students start at Wikipedia to research a topic, they could look at the bottom to find the original source of information. At that point, students can search their school’s library for that source to see if it comes up under peer-reviewed scholarly sources.

eHow, Quora, or other Q&A Sites – There are plenty of Q&A sites that allow people to answer questions on the Internet. Just because there is an answer on these sites, does not mean that the answer is correct or has been reviewed by anyone. Think of these sites as you would a blog. They may or may not contain accurate information. Therefore, they should not be used to cite.

Dictionary – This is a source students tend to like to cite. Although it is accurate and will give a good definition, some professors look at this as a kind of “cop out” source. It is easy to look up a definition in the dictionary. It is better to show scholarly research that explains the subject in more detail.

Books – Some books should not be used as sources. If there is a textbook assigned to the course, it is usually a good source to cite. However, not all books are considered “scholarly”. It is best to stick to peer-reviewed journals if there is any doubt.

Some professors will allow just about any source for citations. Others are extremely picky. To be safe, it is a good idea to get in the habit of using only peer-reviewed scholarly sources. For more information, check out: What is a Peer-Reviewed Journal.

Schools usually have an online library where students can find appropriate sources. Near the search bar, there may be a box that can be checked to ensure that the search only delivers peer-reviewed scholarly sources. The wise students stick to the school’s library for research. It is as easy to search as Google and the chances of coming up with proper research are enhanced.

Other Common Mistakes:

I notice that many students make similar mistakes. I make comments on their papers to address these issues. Many of them disregard my comments and continue to submit the papers with the same mistakes. I thought it might be helpful to create a checklist of some of the most common mistakes that I see and give some guidelines as how to correct them.

Tense – Students should stick to third person rather than first or second person unless the paper is specifically about them. In this blog, I write in first person. I use words like I, me, us, and we. Those are fine in this type of setting. In undergraduate and graduate courses, students must be able to write as if they are an observer. It is also incorrect to write in second person. Second person includes words like you and your. Students must learn how to write in third person. Do not write a paper that begins with something like: I chose to write about this because blah blah blah. There is no need to mention the author (aka the student). Just write about the topic.

Paragraph/Overall Structure – I often include a link in class that directs student to this Youtube Video that explains how to write a well-constructed paper. It is important not to have an overly long or overly short paragraph. I have seen students submit entire papers that included only one paragraph. I prefer to see paragraphs include around 4-8 sentences. If citing is required, it is better to begin a paragraph with a statement and then follow it with citations. The citations are there to support any points. Students must make their points before they can support them. Students often forget to set up their papers to include an introduction, body and conclusion. I recommend watching the Youtube video for help with this and many other structural and writing issues.

Using Scholarly Sources – Students may have difficulty distinguishing between the kinds of sources that are allowed for citations. If students’ first inclination is to search for answers on Google or if Wikipedia is their best friend, I recommend that they check out their school’s library search engine instead.

Font Issues – Students must be sure that their papers meet APA guidelines. The font needs to be set at 12 point. There should not be any special bold, ALL CAPS, or underlined information that does not meet these guidelines.

Amount of Citations – Students often do not include enough citations. They must be able to demonstrate their research and back up any points. I find that many students like to write in a story-telling fashion. Others may already know information about a topic and write based on experience. It is important to cite even if you are a subject expert. Some may be tempted to cite too often. Every single sentence should not be a citation. That is called patchworking. It is important to make a point and then back it up with citations to demonstrate your research.

Follow Rubrics and Guidelines – If there are specific requirements for the assignment, it is important that students follow the guidelines. If five pages are required, then submit at least five complete pages. The title page and reference pages do not count toward page requirements. If the professor has posted any additional requirements in class, it is important to go through that checklist to determine that all requirements have been met.

Graduate-Level Expectations:

Graduate-level students may be required to have a higher level of writing expertise. These requirements may cause students to become frustrated. Some of my online students have not taken courses in a very long time. Many of them have not learned how to write properly in APA format. I have a surprisingly high number of students who have difficulty with sentence and paragraph structure. Graduate students should not use contractions. For example, words like cannot should not be written as can’t. Papers should be written in third person unless it specifically states that the assignment should be written in first person. Students should support all major points and information that is not common knowledge with peer-reviewed scholarly sources. The school’s library should be the main search source. Whenever information is not common knowledge or is paraphrased, it should be cited.

I have had some students who get annoyed when I take off points for these issues. I post my requirements on the first day of class, so that there are no excuses for not following my guidelines. However, there will always be some students who feel it is their right to write incorrectly. They may not truly understand the narrative mode issue or how to cite in APA format.

At the graduate level, it is up to students to learn these things. It is important to write in a scholarly tone. I think students should write as if their paper could be printed in a journal. It is important that students do not write in an informal tone. Some students like to insert personal anecdotes or other information that is not appropriate for the assignment or this level of work. Unless the instructor specifically states that papers may be written informally or in some other format, graduate-level students should stick to a scholarly third-person tone that is supported consistently throughout with peer-reviewed research.

There may come a time when an assigned essay involves something that the student has experienced or already has studied. For example, an assignment might be to write about a famous entrepreneur. I have many students that are fans of Steve Jobs or Oprah Winfrey. They may know everything there is to know about these people because they have followed their careers.

Many students make the mistake of writing in a storytelling-fashion, based on their own interpretation of what they think they already know. If it is a graduate-level assignment, usually citations and research are required. That means that students will need to find sources to support their writing.

I commonly I see students write something like this: I chose Oprah Winfrey because she makes me feel blah blah blah. There are several problems with this sentence. First of all, the paper should be about Oprah and not about the student. There is no need to write in first person. Unless the professor specifically stated that students should explain their feelings, the assignment should stick to what Oprah has accomplished.

Students often like to refer to their feelings in their writing. They also like to include personal anecdotes. For most of the classes that I teach, this is not appropriate.

Sometimes a student will drop me a note that states something like this: “I already know everything about this subject, so I didn’t include citations.” I understand what they mean. However, even if the student knows everything about a topic, the point of the assignment is to show what they have learned through research.

Students must get into the habit of finding solid scholarly sources to back up what they have written. Without citations, they have written opinion and not research.

There are certain expectations of higher-level students. They should be able to write in complete paragraphs that include around four to eight sentences. Students should cite consistently throughout each of those paragraphs to support major points. A strong introduction and conclusion should be included.

When students cite, it is a good idea to paraphrase those citations whenever possible. Some students try to fill space by including many long direct quotations. I have corrected papers where students had about 10% of their own information and the rest was directly quoted from another source. This is not acceptable. Some schools do not allow more than 10% directly quoted material. It is easy to copy and paste what others have written. That does not really show that the student has learned anything. It is far better to paraphrase citations to show that the information has been processed and understood.

Online education is growing at a pace that far exceeds general education enrollment. Because of the popularity of online learning, many traditional universities are offering online courses. Forbes recently reported that MIT will soon offer free education for everyone. With all of the online options available, students may be confused as to where to go for helpful information. There are plenty of sites available to help online students find schools, locate loans and even determine majors. What is not as readily available is information about how to be a successful online student once he or she is enrolled.

The following is the top 5 list of things that can help the new online student succeed once they have already chosen their school and major. Click on the blue links for more information about each topic:

Learn Goal Setting – Read about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (sometimes also Results-Based), and Timely (or Time-Bound). Students should set S.M.A.R.T. education goals. Those that neglect to do this may find that it takes them longer to graduate, while they waste time and money.

Learn Tools Offered – Most online universities offer some extremely helpful writing, editing and plagiarism-checking tools. The school’s online site may also have helpful tutorials to explain how to use the software (also known as the platform) that delivers the classroom information. Learning how to navigate in the online classroom may take a little time. However, after taking the first class, many students feel more confident in their navigating abilities.

Use the School’s Library – Students may forget that their university has an online library. It is important that students do not get in the habit of searching for information using Google, Yahoo! and other similar engines. A well-written paper is supported by peer-reviewed articles. These may be easily found using the school’s search engines located in their online library.

Learn APA – APA stands for American Psychological Association. For college students, APA refers to the format in which papers should be written. While APA may seem daunting to the new learner, there are some very useful examples of APA papers online that can help explain the requirements.

Times have certainly changed for high school education. Alabama, Florida and Michigan are just some of the states that now require students to take at least one online course to graduate. According to the article 10 Online Ed Trends Coming to a High School Near You, “Administrators believe that getting students to take online courses will better prepare them to work with the technologies they’ll face in college and the workforce.”

In Memphis online classes were increased due to an upswing in the desire by students to take these courses. Online courses are available for both high school and middle school students. An advantage for the schools is that they are less expensive. In the article Online Class Required for Graduation in Memphis, the author points out that there will be some stringent requirements. “The structure calls for accountability requiring students to log on, finish assignments, and participate in hour-long live chat sessions with an instructor and classmates. Teachers speak with students after each module to verify their identity. Proctored semester exams are administered on school grounds.”

The number of states adding online requirements continues to grow. Idaho has a tech-focused school reform program that will require students to take two online courses. Indiana has also jumped on the technology bandwagon. Indiana state superintendent, Tony Bennett, recently announced that students will be required to take at least one online course in order to graduate. In the article United States High Schools Including Online Coursework as Graduation Requirement, the author stated, “Mr. Bennett explained his rationale for an online course requirement by stating that he felt like experiencing an online course would help to prepare Indiana students for the technology they will be using at colleges and universities, as well as in the workforce.”

Online degrees are often in the news. When I first began teaching online, there were far fewer schools offering an online education. This led to some negative interpretations when employers were considering applicants with an online education.

Thankfully it is 2011 and people are waking up! In today’s AOLjobs.com article, the author noted, “While online degrees were once largely seen as being second-rate, recent studies have reported that employers are not only more open to, but are even showing a favorable sentiment toward candidates with online degrees these days. Besides the increase in reputation these programs are experiencing, online degrees have also become so popular, that if employers were to disregard candidates with such degrees, they’d also be disqualifying a significant portion of the work force.”

How popular is online learning? According to Campustechhnology.com, “Nearly 12 million post-secondary students in the United States take some or all of their classes online right now. But this will skyrocket to more than 22 million in the next five years.”

With the growth of the Internet, the ease of accessibility to computers and the flexibility that the online environment affords students, online learning has become more popular than ever. The advantages of not having to buy gas to get to class, not having find a car park or pay for parking, and being able to attend class at any time of the day or night have all contributed to its popularity.

A large percentage of students who are studying online are working on their associates, but there are baccalaureate, master, and doctoral programs available online as well. Much of the growth that has occurred in online learning has happened since 1999. With the recent changes in the economy, online classes have seen a surge in enrollment. “Bad economic times have often been good for education, either because decreased availability of good jobs encourages more people to seek education instead, or because those currently employed seek to improve their chances for advancement by pursuing their education” (Sloan, 2008).

There is no mistaking the popularity of online education. Even Bill Gates praised online learning in his 2010 Annual Letter stating, “A lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the internet will surprise people in how it can improve things.”

If you are thinking about going back to school in 2011, check out some of the following articles for more advice:

The Wall Street Journal has teamed up with Unigo’s student correspondents from more than 2000 colleges across America to produce a site they call WSJ on Campus. If you are not familiar with Unigo, you can watch a video that explains what they do by clicking here. Their system helps student match their interests and values with appropriate universities. Their offer help to prospective students by providing reviews written by past students regarding the schools they have attended. This information is used to help prospective students decide which school is best for them.

If you to go to WSJ On Campus, you will find that they offer the following information about getting prepared for college:

I tried searching by online, online colleges, distance learning and other terms but found no information about online education on the site. I even typed in some of the top online universities to see if they would come up and there was nothing. It appears this site is very helpful if you are considering going to a traditional college but not so helpful if you want to use it to choose an online university. Even if you do decide to attend an online college or university, you can learn a lot from their articles about how to be a successful student.

For more information about being a successful online student, click here.

Today’s Ask Dr. Diane: I just wrote a book that is available through Amazon. I’m just not sure about the best way to market it? Any suggestions?

That is a good question. The tips I’m about to give can also be used to market things other than a book.

You could market it through several ways. I would create a link to it on your site like I have links on my main website to Amazon. If you don’t want to do that, you could offer it directly from you as a PDF through your site and charge them using PayPal.

You might want to make a video (3-4 minutes at most) and put it on Youtube. At the end of the video make mention of a free offer or newsletter and where to go for more information. If they go to that site, it should be a capture page to get people signed up to receive free newsletters (through a site like aweber.com) to get them interested in you and your book.

You definitely need to be on Facebook and create fan pages like the ones I have for each of my books there. See:

I would be on Twitter as well. You can tie all of your Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc. accounts into one area on sites like Hootsuite . . . but I like to use Posterous a lot. It is like a blog but it has a great share information toolbar that you can get that and it also allows you to share your updates on multiple sites like Hootsuite does.

If you want to learn about social networking and “how to do it” . . .for a reasonable price you can go to Letsgetsocial and sign up to get their videos. I watched them and they are really very informative. They are designed to teach people how to be media managers but people who don’t want to do the job of media management can learn how to do their own media management from them.

I gave a presentation yesterday to a local group here where others were presenting to career-seekers … they all agreed that Youtube is one of the biggest things you can do to get noticed.

I watched a video a while back on Pitchengine.com about videos and they had some good information. They are more costly though. You might watch their video for information. If you are going to spend that kind of money, you need to have a major product to promote. Books probably won’t have the return to support that.

Talks are another great way to promote your book . . . so are radio interviews. You can go to radioguestlist.com or other sites like that to find people looking to interview you.

Blogging is one of the best ways to get your name out there. I like to use WordPress because it is free and uncomplicated.

You can also release press releases on prweb or other such sites. I am on wooeb who also has press releases that are not as expensive. You can send out free releases on pitchengine.

You might check out some books . . . .I liked a book called Career Renegade . . . had some good ideas. (on a different side topic . . .I liked the book The Happiness Advantage written by ex Harvard professor – very entertaining)

The New York Times recently reported, “An analysis of 99 studies by the federal Department of Education concluded last year that online instruction, on average, was more effective than face-to-face learning by a modest amount.”

However, in this same article, they noted that not all results have shown this to be true. Mark Rush of the University of Florida’s researched students who watched lectures online vs. traditional students who attended regular live in person lectures. Their study showed more online students let the lectures pile up and got behind. To find out more about this study, check out the New York Times Article.

While I find this to be an interesting study, almost none of the online classes I teach include recorded lectures. Therefore I don’t find this data to be representative of the online experience that I have witnessed in my over 5 years of teaching for many different online universities.

Although many people find the lecture experience a big part of education, not everyone finds this to be the most effective way to learn. When I attended a traditional college, I personally did not enjoy having to sit through long lectures. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to online learning later.

I am more inclined to look at the 99 studies from the Federal Department of Education than one study that looks specifically at how well students keep up with watching lectures in determining the effectiveness of online learning. I personally think that people are drawn to the type of education that fits their needs. For those that enjoy long lectures, traditional universities may be the best optino for them. For those who don’t, online has a lot to offer.

Ask Dr. Diane: What are the most common writing mistakes that your students make?

While it is not unusual to see spelling and grammar issues, I’ll assume that readers realize that they should check for such things and just list the top 10 most common other issues I see here. I hope this posting will give some insight into how to set up your papers so that you can avoid making these common mistakes.

Papers not set up with double-spacing – To set your paper to be double-spaced, be sure you are on the home tab in Word and go to the paragraph section of the tool bar. There is an up and down arrow icon that you can click on. When you do this, it will give you choices of how to set up your spacing. Pick 2.0 to set double-spacing.

Papers should not have an extra space between paragraphs – Remember that papers must be double-spaced throughout in APA. Word sometimes defaults with an extra space between paragraphs. To change this, click here.

Papers must have headers/numbers set up correctly through the header/number function in Word – To learn how to do this, click here.

Papers must be set up with an introduction/body/conclusion – Your introduction and conclusion need to be strong summaries of what the paper will or has included. For more about how to write an essay, click here.

Papers should not be written in first person – Remove the “I” or “Me” from your writing. For an explanation of the meaning of first person, click here.

Citing and References confusion – Citing is the act of quoting a source. For example: “Citing is the act of quoting a source.” (Hamilton, 2010) This is not to be confused with references. References are included on a separate page with the title References at the top. You must include references whenever you cite. The reference explains who deserves credit for the citation. Many students list references but no citations. That is not correct. You need both.

Paragraph length confusion – Students often either write in overly short or overly long paragraphs. A good size paragraph is at least 3-4 sentences but should not be so long that it takes up an entire page or more.

Papers should be left justified and not blocked – Students sometimes write in blocked format. That is not correct. Papers need to be left justified. The setting for this is on the home tab under the paragraph part of the toolbar.

Over citing – I see a lot of students who tend to write entire paragraphs of citing and forget to include their own writing in their work. Although citing is important, it is also important to have your own points and statements. Remember to make your point and then follow that up with citations to back up what you have written. As a professor, I am looking to see that you have learned the subject and are not simply restating what others have said.

Forgetting title page – Students often forget to include a title page. It is very important that all papers include a title page that is correctly formatted in APA format. For helpful examples of APA formatting, click here.

Hi Diane,
This is Jim from your GCU training class. First of all, you’re a pretty lady. Fortunately for you I’m happily married after 40 years of keeping it together. Seriously, (I still think you’re pretty) I appreicate you sharing your hard work. I promise to link it and not quote it without your permission.
blessings
Jim

If you are considering going back to college, you may be interested to know that tuition rates are going up. That is the bad news. The good news is that the Pell grants are on the rise. I give a lot of advice about paying for college in my book, The Online Student User’s Manual. For more information, you can also check out some of my recent articles by clicking here.

According to an article in WSJ.com by Stephanie Banchero, “The average price of tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year institutions is $7,605 this school year, a 7.9% increase over last year. At private nonprofit colleges and universities, the average price is $27,293, a 4.5% rise. Two-year state colleges saw a 6% rise to $2,713.” To read the entire article, click here.